US working to convince Turkey not to buy Russian-made missile defense system

The United States believes the sale of a Russian-made missile defence system to Turkey is not a finished deal yet, and it is working to convince Turkey to buy a system that would work with the NATO, Commander of US Forces Europe Gen. Curtis Scaparrotti said during a congressional testimony on Thursday.

"We’re in close discussion with Turkey with respect to air defence measures and the systems they could employ. I think that they’re talking to us as well as others to purchase a system that’s interoperable in NATO... and my intent is to continue to work that aspect to convince them that the better system is, in fact, one of the NATO interoperable systems," Scaparrotti told the US Senate Armed Services Committee.

In December, Russia and Turkey signed a loan agreement on the supply of Russia's S-400 air and missile defence systems to Turkey.